How do you preserve a fish for mounting?

[IrishAyes]

What would you do if you caught a fish that you wanted to mount?  Should it be frozen, just kept on ice, brought to a taxidermist immediately? 

I think I would try to keep it flat (not curled up like a lot of fish do when they expire), on ice until I got it in and then freeze it.  Is this proper?

What would be the proper procedure from time of catch until it is in the hands of a taxidermist?

[hareball]

hi joe, not sure if this is a proper method to preserve for taxidermy but I always used salt.

when I was doing import/export of live fish and one of my customers had a DOA I asked them to bag the fish with salt and ship it back to me to confirm. the few times this happened the fish came back in great condition with no bacteria growth or any other problems.

[Capt. Ed]

Hi Capt. Joe,

Great question ... all the fish I have had mounted were put in a ice/salt slurry and brought to the shop quickly for skin mounts. In Florida, we did many replica mounts through Gray's and the fish were not needed after pictures and size.

Anybody do skin mounts?

Rod - Can you have our sponsor weigh in on this?

Thanks,

Ed

[CapBob]

Joe,

Good question.....never took a fish to be done, have taken animals and birds and the ones I did not skin I froze........I would call a local taxidermist to be sure.......


Which reminds me of a story, a Taxidermist is on a trip and driving through Alabama, he stops in a local Bar for a bite to eat and a Beer. The bar is loaded with Red-Necks and bar immediately gets quiet when he walks in. As he sits at the bar everybody is staring him down.

After a short time the Biggest Ugliest one comes up to him and says "where ya'll from" The Taxidermist says New Jersey, the Red Neck yell's New Jersey yor a damn Yankee. The rest of the bar starts grumbling.

The Red Neck asks, "what do ya'll do". The Taxidermist says, I'm a Taxidermist, The Red neck yell's "Taxidermist, what da hell is that?" The Taxidermist says well, "I mount Animals". The Red Neck turns to the bar and says, it's OK he's one of us!!!!!! (Ba-Dum_Bum)

[hareball]

 

[fishon42]

I have taken 2 fish to get mounted. When I got home. I wrapped the fish in a Towel a few times. Then put it in my Freezer for however long until I brong it to the taxidermist. Not weeks. Few days or what not. And my fish have came out great. 



Fish On

[fishon42]

 

[IrishAyes]

Thanks for all the responses.  I have not caught my big fluke yet, but want to be prepared just in case...

[rugman]

take it and wrap in a wet towel , donot wrap it in news paper , takes to much time to get it off.

[mboy]

Capt.Joe.....Fish on is not far off, I graduated PTC Taxidermy school in 84. Your best bet is to wrap the fish in a wet towel, take care to keep the fin's neat(they are fragile when frozen).Put the wet towel into a plastic bag, get as much air out of the bag as you can. Keep this in the freezer until you are ready to take to a taxidermist. You should not wait too long as freezer burn makes the job a bit tougher, and more time consuming(injecting warm water into the dried out areas). Good luck with your trophy. Most saltwater fish are fiberglass reproductions due to the amount of oil in these fish.
 Any more info you can PM me.     

1984? Just how old r u anyway

[Skolmann]

What would you do if you caught a fish that you wanted to mount? 

Personally, I would no longer go for the skin mount and opt for a replica mount.

In the past, I've had skin mounts made of my first false albie, a trophy rainbow trout as well as both a brook and rainbow trout. After several years they all yellowed and the skin began to flake. They were all done by different taxidermist so I can't fault who did it.

I did have a full body replica mount made of a blue marlin I caught. At the time it was completely I was living in an apartment and didn't have the wall space to hang it so I kept it stored in it's shipping crate at my uncle's lumbar yard. Unfortunately soon after I bought my home (and had the perfect spot picked out for it), an arsonist set fire my the lumbar yard & all I had left was a severely charred marlin head. 

All you need for a replica mount is to take the length & girth measurements and take several pictures from different views. That is a whole a good taxidermist needs.

On a lighter note I was going to make some adult comment after I first saw the title of this thread but thought there might be some kids reading this...

[Pops Soul]

1984? Just how old r u anyway

   

[SouthPaw]

Hi Capt. Joe

 You know better than that your crew would never let you keep a fish for mounting.  those things are filleted so fast. your lucky if you have enough time to take a picture.

Vinnie

[Luna Sea 5]

keep it wrapped tight, not to freezer burn, while in the freezer, then take it to a sponsor..

[rgswildlife]

Fish are best frozen whole and damp, or bring it into my shop when you are done fishing. There really is not a lot to take care of a fish for mounting just some common sense, do not leave in the sun or out of water on the shore, keep it covered and damp. If it is going to be a skin mount do not drag it against a hard surface,

NOTE: There is a growing interest in catch-and-release fishing. Because of this Wildlife Taxidermy by Richard G. Santomauro is offering beautiful Reproduction Fish Mounts. All we need to know is a length and girth measurement and you can release your fish alive, for someone else to enjoy!
__________________
Wildlife Taxidermy By Richard G. Santomauro
1732 Hgy # 71 Wall NJ 07719 Phone 732-449-5950
Web page http://www.rgswildlifetaxidermy.com
E-Mail rgswildlife@yahoo.com
Life member - NRA & NJFSC: Standard Member UBNJ, NTA, GSTA, New Jersey Outdoor Alliance.